DIGITAL TWINS: HOW TO AVOID THE PITFALLS OF BIM

Over the past decade, we have witnessed an unprecedented transformation in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation (AECO) industry in the UK but also abroad. From the early use of collaborative 3D technologies mandated as part of the UK Government Construction Strategy in 2011 (put into practice in 2016) which certainly accelerated the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM); to the introduction and eventual fall from grace of Virtual Reality (VR), the buzzwords in this industry change as frequently as the trends at London Fashion Week. The nirvana of BIM supposedly promised the now infamous 20% construction cost savings that were nowhere to be seen. Therefore, there is no surprise the level of scepticism that any such a new concept receives. Thus, to avoid similar misconceptions from the past, we have contributed to the development of the Digital Twin Toolkit in order to first define what we mean by a digital twin and second to clarify the business case as well as the benefits this newly rediscovered concept brings. This whitepaper therefore expands on the toolkit by providing advice and suggestions from our own experience and the journey of the past ten years so as to avoid the same pitfalls that BIM has led to. A client claiming they have “BIM getting delivered next Thursday” only for the team to discover it is just a computer with a pre-installed Revit is one such example.